The rest of the men’s first round matches were completed on Day 3 at the French Open. Defending champion Novak Djokovic, two-time Runner-up Casper Ruud, and American No. 1 Taylor Fritz were some of the players to feature in Paris. This article recaps which players impressed, who did not produce their best and than names the most entertaining match of the day. We at LWOT also recap the women’s action in a separate article.
French Open Day 3 Men’s Recap
Who Looked Good
Novak Djokovic got off to a winning start at the French Open by overcoming home favourite Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4 7-6 6-4. It was a positive opening match for Djokovic, whose form this season has been more underwhelming than usual. Herbert played very well throughout the contest but the 24-time Grand Slam champion was stronger in the big moments.
Casper Ruud made a solid start to his French Open campaign. He only faced one break point during his 6-3 6-4 6-3 victory against Felipe Meligeni Alves. The Norwegian never looked in any danger throughout the contest and will be very pleased with his performance.
Holger Rune was another straight sets winner in Paris. Dan Evans was competitive throughout the their match but it was not enough to come close to upsetting the Dane. The final score was 6-4 6-4 6-4 in favour of Rune.
Taylor Fritz needed an extra set to progress to the next round on Day 3 at the French Open. He dropped the opening set 2-6 to Federico Coria, before coming back very strongly to prevail 2-6 6-1 6-2 6-1. The American broke Coria’s serve an incredible eight times in the three sets that he won.
Who Looked Bad
Alex Michelsen was heavily beaten in the first-round at the French Open. He was swept aside by Alex de Minaur, who may be confident of a deep run at the French Open after beating Michelsen 6-1 6-0 6-2. The American is not yet comfortable on clay, but someone with a serve as powerful as his would not expect to lose by that score.
French No. 2 Adrian Mannarino was defeated in the first round at this home Grand Slam once again. After claiming the opening set against Giulio Zeppieri, he only won five more games in the following three sets that he lost. Mannarino usually struggles on clay and he will be happy to move onto his favorite grass-court season.
Match Of The Day
There were two five-set battles on Day 3 at the French Open. The first was between Alexei Popyrin and Thanasi Kokkinakis, which Kokkinakis managed to progress 4-6 7-6 6-3 5-7 6-3. But the best match of the day was between David Goffin and home favourite Mpetshi Perricard in front of a fiercely partisan crowd on Court 14. The first set saw recent Lyon Open champion Mpetshi Perricard recover from a set down to take it 6-4. The experienced Belgian fought back strongly by returning his opponent’s huge serve superbly in two sets that he won 6-4 and 6-3. However, the drama was not done there. Mpetshi Perricard forced a decider by claiming the fourth set on a tiebreak. That set the crowrd into raptures, but Goffin kept his cool superbly in the fifth set. He took it 6-3 to complete a 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-7 6-3 victory.
Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
